The invention relates to garments, and particularly to a garment crotch structure for women's garments with an opening that is adapted to remain closed in normal use but may be conveniently opened for performing bodily functions. The garment crotch structure may be incorporated into women's underwear and also into certain types of women's outerwear including bathing suits and leotards.
Many types of women's garments, including briefs, pantyhose, swimsuits, and other types of active wear, include a crotch portion. Due to the crotch portion in these types of garments, the garment must be pulled down to enable the wearer to perform bodily functions. Some outerwear garments such as one-piece bathing suits and leotards pose a particular problem in that substantially the entire garment must be removed in order for the wearer to perform bodily functions.
The problem of having to remove an undergarment having a tight fitting crotch portion to enable the wearer to perform bodily functions has been recognized for many years. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,522,008 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,522,009 to WOHLMAN were directed to women's foundation garments having an openable crotch structure. The crotch structure shown in the WOHLMAN patents had a separate crotch section that included two overlapping panels positioned just in the crotch area of the garment. The panels could be separated just in the crotch area for providing an opening purportedly for allowing bodily functions to be performed without removing the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,550 to CARVER was directed to an openable crotch structure specifically for pantyhose. The pantyhose crotch structure taught by CARVER included a crotch portion made of a double knit fabric material. The overlapping material included slits extending just in the crotch area that were adapted to be parted by digital manipulation to provide an opening just in the crotch of the garment through which urination could be accomplished without removal or partial removal of the garment.
There were several problems associated with these prior openable garment crotch structures. First, the various types of overlapping flaps of material had to be manually held open to enable the wearer to perform the desired bodily function. Also, the prior crotch structures were unable to provide sufficient separation for enabling the wearer to conveniently urinate or defecate. Furthermore, due to their structural requirements, the prior openable crotch structures were suitable only for use in undergarments.
It is therefore a general object of the invention to provide a garment crotch structure adapted to overcome the above described problems and others associated with garment crotch structures for enabling the wearer to perform bodily functions without removing or partially removing the garment.